KRIS JACK was in Nottingham and watched as the two Scottish sides put on brave performances in the Elite Hockey League play-offs.

BRAEHEAD CLAN and Fife Flyers coloured Nottingham tartan at the EIHL Play Off Finals Weekend, but were sent homeward to think of next year, as neither were able to make it to the season’s showpiece finale.

Having rebranded the NIC as #Scottingham on social media, the fans of the the Flyers and the Clan made themselves heard all weekend long, but were unable to cheer their sides on to silverware.

Fife Flyers opened the weekend by taking on Belfast Giants in the first semi final. With a huge amount of momentum going in to the weekend, Danny Stewart, Todd Dutiaume and co would be hoping to ride that wave to the final.

However, the Giants were just as eager to claim the Play Off trophy, which led to a tense affair on the ice. Goalless until the final session, thanks to some heroics from Flyers Man of the Match Kevin Regan, the Kirkcaldy club’s hopes were dashed when Kevin Saurette netted the game winning goal in the 47th minute.

Despite impressive performances from Regan, Jordan Fulton and Josh Scoon, they could’t find a way past Giants’ Scottish netminder Stephen Murphy to tie the game. Instead, the Giants marched on through to Sunday’s final.

The second semi final saw Braehead Clan take on Sheffield Steelers, in what was a fesity game from the off. Early Steelers pressure led to Neil Trimm firing the Clan ahead against the run of play.

Not long after the opener, a flurry of penalties were called after some handbags broke out across the ice. Tim Spencer of the Steelers and Clan’s Chris Frank were kicked out of the game after Spencer kept popping at Joel Champagne. The call was a tad hardsh on Frank, but noentheless, both sides would be down a D-man for the remainder of the game.

The Steelers levelled in the ninth minute, Nate DiCasmirro countering on a Sheffiled powerplay, before Dustin Kohn poked through Clan netminder Kyle Jones’ legs to put them 2-1 up at the end of the 1st session. Another flurry of penalties led to Clan’s leveller, as Ash Goldie boomed a one timer over Frank Doyle’s shoulder on a five on four powerplay to tie the game.

With the tie poised nicely in the third, both sides had chances to go ahead, but it wasn’t until Clan's Mario Larocque went off injured, that the Steelers booked their place in the Final. With Frank and Larocque missing, Clan’s D couldn’t withstand the pressure, allowing Robert Dowd to fire home as he was knocked to the ground, putting the Steelers out of sight. A late powerplay opportunity saw Ash Goldie miss with only Doyle to beat, but it wasn’t to be for Ryan Finnerty against his former club.

Clan coach Finnerty was proud of his players efforts, but bemoaned their luck at times as they hunted silverware.

“I feel bad for the guys as I honestly felt we could have reach that final match, but it came down to a bounce here and there and that’s what decided it.” He said.

“We needed a little luck in the bounce, plus we lost a couple of defencemen and that was the difference in the end.

“Losing those players meant asking other to step up and I thought they did so. I’m proud of every one of them for the effort they game.”

That would mean that both Scottish teams would have time to drown their sorrows before sobering up to fight it out for third place on Sunday lunchtime.

The Flyers clearly had the bigger supply of Berocca, as they opened up a two goal lead in the opening period, Ewan Forsyth and Jamie Wilson beating Mike Will, deputising for regular Braehead starting netminder Kyle Jones. They doubled that lead in the second period, Derek Roehl and Josh Scoon securing a commanding lead for the Fifers.

However, Clan got themselves to within a goal by the period’s end, Tristan Harper, Shane Lust and Kenton Smith putting west coast side on the comeback trail. In the third period, three goals in four minutes saw Finnerty’s men complete a remarkable comeback to lead 6-4. Joel Champagne netted either side of a Matt Haywood’s go-ahead goal to stun the Fife fans who had been flying less than 20 minutes earlier.

The game took another turn when Derek Roehl got the Flyers to within one goal, before Ned Lukacevic struck to send the game to overtime. With sudden death being played, it would be Ed McGrane who netted the odd goal in thirteen to notch a 7-6 win and third place for Braehead. The game may have lacked the quality that many fans would have hoped for in the battle to be top of the Scots, but a barrow load of goals was deemed entertainment enough, ahead of the grand final.

Both Flyers and Clan fans still made themselves heard as the Steelers took on the Giants. A goalless first period gave way to four goals in the second, two for each side. Belfast took the lead through Scotsman Cody Brookwell, before Phil Hill levelled for the Yorkshire side. The Giants then took the lead for a second time through Scotsman Colin Shields, before they were again pinned back, as Rob Dowd notched his second of the weekend.

The game remained level in to overtime, where the decisive goal was scored by Drew Fata, earning Gerad Adams side the trophy and the title of Elite League Play Off Champions 2014.

With the EIHL season now over, the clubs will re-couperate and rebuild for next year. If the Scottish clubs can do as well as they have this year, next season could be another vintage term for the Scottish sides in the Elite Ice Hockey League.